Monday, October 3, 2011

Screeching the Surface: Don't Sell the Steak, Sell the Squealing

"To err is human; to forgive, divine." At least, that's what some schlub who messed up a lot would have you believe. The truth is, it's just this sort of "Whatever, man, I messed up and now you have to forgive me or else you're an asshole" attitude that is rotting our society from within. Low standards and lower pants are destroying this country, and it's why Canada's dollar can now beat up our dollar. We shouldnt' tolarate mistakes, and the mistake maker should be punished. Punished!

Having said that, I kind of sort of made a little mistake last Friday. Specifically, on the quiz I administered that day, this was the first question:
The correct answer, I had you believe, was the last one: "All of the above." However, subsequent to distributing the quiz I checked my Twittering account, and to my considerable embarrasmentitude I saw the following "Tweet" from the author of the actual review:

Egads! Going back to the review, I read it more carefully, and indeed the Mavic Ksyrium Delyrium SLR SL Exalith Monothith Deluxe-Tastic Crap-Sys wheelset is not actually crabon. It just looks like crabon:

The reason it looks like crabon is because it's coated with some sort of Smucker's Magic Shell-like stuff that apparently improves braking and but also makes the bike shriek like a rider with his "pants yabbies" caught in the drivetrain in the process. Yes, nobody does proprietary shrieking wheel technology like Mavic, who in recent years also brought us the Ksyrium "death squeal." I'm hoping Mavic saw fit to include that same crappy bushing in the SLR Exalith wheel with the Smucker's coating, because the freehub squeal coupled with the rim coating squeal would make these well worth the $1,800 price tag.

Anyway, the upshot of all this is that "All of the above" was not the right answer. I apologize for this, and as compensation for the inconvenience I'm pleased to announce that Mavic will give everybody who took the quiz a $1,400 credit! All you have to do is, instead of buying the SLR Exalith chocolate-dipped wheelset, simply buy a pair of Mavic's perfectly serviceable road rims and attach them by means of traditional spokes to a decent quality pair of hubs. That's $1,400 right in your jersey pocket. Plus, use a menstrual cup on top of that and you'll save so much money you'll almost be able to afford to visit Canada!

In any case, after discovering my mistake I was already feeling pretty bad about myself. Then, I made the mistake of watching this video from the Dutch Cycling Embassy, which transported me to a sad realm of utter despondency:



According to the video, the Dutch have embraced cycling because they place a high value on human life, and this is precisely why we'll never see this level of bike-friendliness in America. Unlike the Dutch, we're an enlightened society, and we only place a high value on things like durable goods and real estate. Human life is supposed to get out of the way.

Still, this doesn't keep us from trying, and as you may have heard New York City is finally getting a bike-sharing program next year. In order to soften us up for it, there was a sample station set up in Brooklyn this past weekend, and so I headed over to take a look. The Dutch cycling video was still fresh in my mind, and as I rode to the demonstration I thought to myself, "What can we do to make New York City better for cyclists?" Well, we could probably start by taking the lampposts out of the bike lanes:

If you're Dutch this might seem like a bad thing, but at least it helps keep the cars out of the bike lane.

As I stood there contemplating New York's cycling present, I looked across the street, and there was the future:


Yes, it was a real-life bike sharing station, just like the ones I used in London:

I'm very pleased we're getting our own bike share, and I'm also pleased that as New York City gradually tires of the "fixie" craze it is now foisting it on other cities, like Paris:


I made a quick count, and the word "fixie" (or at least some variation thereof) appears 20 times:

Clearly the journalistic "Fixiedex" is still rather robust--unlike, say, a Spinergy Rev-X, though amazingly Parisians still seem able to obtain them:

I find it remarkable that there are almost no regional variations in the "fixie" trend and that the conformity is nearly total, though to be fair the French do appear to add their own little cultural flourishes, such as the top tube baguette:

For the picnic later, some taped baguettes to the top-tubes of their fixies, with bottles of rosé and Burgundy lashed into tote baskets.

Maybe online vendor Funked Up Fixies should add that as an option:



Then your look could be stale on every level.

130 comments:

Anonymous said...

FIRST MOBZOOTS!!!!

Prolly said...

Dude, when you copy video codes from my blog it keeps the purple color code! lol

Paul Bowen said...

podium?

Kenny said...

AND THAT'S HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW!

GhostOfTyrone said...

Top Ten?

Rayman said...

podium

Buy-cycle said...

Top 10? I love reading this blog, it's humorous, entertaining, and a great way to stay in shape.

Buffalo Bill said...

I am not in the top 10

Buffalo Bill said...

Ok, I guess I am. All the sprinters must have been caught behind the crash.

Anonymous said...

top ten

cycle

Paul Forreskin said...

How do you say
"quel bande de douches"
en anglais?

Top dix!

RANTWICK said...

In the funked up fixies vid, I think it is kind of telling that the freestyler's only campanion (fan?) is a chubby little kid, perhaps his little brother.

Major Labia Taylor said...

My brake pads were rubbing.

dpatrick1a said...

nodium for me.

Charles said...

Can't comment on today's post yet because this announcement and press release have me thoroughly flummoxed!!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/02/new-samsung-galaxy-tab-10-1-holder-comes-with-bike-attached/

Can the people at Samsung really think that a person can check a 10" tablet while riding this bike (even though it does have brakes)?? So much wrong....

Anonymous said...

Boris Bike alert!

PK said...

Nose gold spotting at 00:41 on the Funked Up Fixies video.

Creepy Croll said...

"Think of it Ellen: A world full of clown bikes!"

Anonymous said...

I like the color-way fixies. Got a brake? Then no got a problem.

g said...

Why isn't the chick's "fixie" fixed?
I think Funked Up Single Speeds is a more accurate name, no?

Anonymous said...

Won my Cat 6 today, woohoo.

Michael Lemberger said...

Thanks, I'll just go to the hardware store and get some stick-on letters for the top tube of my current bike.

Marcel Da Chump said...

Finicky fixie?

g said...

No one chose to place "AYHCSMB" on their rim? Man, I thought SNOB was everywhere...

Anonymous said...

Prolly on the podium? Say it aint so!

Anonymous said...

The fellow in the fixie video?ad from france at the 40 second mark seems to have a booger in his nose. hopefully a nose ring.

Terre Haute Karl said...

The fiddle work in the fixie video soundtrack kept making me think it was going to break into "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"

Anonymous said...

With all this talk of American decline, I am always heartened by the rest of the world copying us. The hegemon lives.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Whatever, man.

Anonymous said...

Lithe Dutch women on bikes with wooden boxes on front make me a bit despondent as well.

Did you notice how she's the one with the pump, helping dude out? Just sayin...

CyclistBrian said...

We've exported the fixie craze because we're going Dutch. Even Walmart is going Dutch now....

http://bikeportland.org/2011/07/11/walmart-goes-dutch-with-hollandia-model-56167

Cycle shabby chic?

Anonymous said...

That high bottom bracket on the funky fixie bikes has me scratching my head. Are they for hopping logs and reducing pedal strike in rock gardens?

Anonymous said...

There's high bottom brackets on fixes cuz you have to pedal through corners.

Anonymous said...

^^^ Thanks Dr. Fixie

I guess I'll have to stop pedaling all of my bikes in the corners now.

Anonymous said...

i love this blog, reading it is the least crappy part of my day.

Anonymous said...

I've been riding bikes since... forever? And yet I have never felt any need for MORE braking power. Better feel, less squeal- yes. More braking, no. Is that just because I don't portage my furniture between trendy apartments?

wishiwasmerckx said...

Right in the middle of the Days of Awe, I found Jesus!

He was behind the couch.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Dr. Fixie: Can you please explain why some fixies have different wheels on the front and back? Is there some structural advantage to warrant this missmatched application? My first guess would be that some composite wheels may better handle the stresses placed upon the rear wheel during certain fixed gear freestyle maneuvers. But then I realized trails bikes all have the same rim and spokes in the back just like in front. So no technical advantage is apparent to me?

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

trials bikes as in "observed"

sorry for the typo, whatever.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

I don't read my shit before I publish it.

hillbilly said...

eep

Anonymous Coward said...

@RCT - I've heard of reading tea leaves, but never one's shit. Must be a recumbent thing.

Anonymous said...

Dear Dr Fixie:
I am having trouble deciding what color of chain I should buy for my fixie gear bike. It's really finicky with the white one I have on there, so I was thinking of getting a green one. My friend Vincent (he's a bike messenger for a burrito place and is really fast) told me that the chain needs to be the same colorway as the tires or it will make more noise and brake when I go down hill. What should I choose?

leroy said...

In French, AYHSMB translates to "Any You Haters Seen My Baguette?"

It's true. Everything sounds more romantic in French.

Grump said...

Snobby, stop making light of Spinergy Rev-X wheels. I don't use them very often, but when I do, they remind me that
1)My middle name really is "Danger"
and
2)I have a killer dental plan.

Nor Cal Top Tube! said...

Prolly's dorkishness knows no boundaries. "I know what I know because I read it on the internet."

STURMEY UND DREIGANG said...

WRM wroted "...and we only pace a high value on things like durable good..."

PLACE GOODS

I wish durable good had a high value here.

Kelly said...

No helmints in Dutchland?

mikeweb said...

I rode to work Friday behind a guy riding a single speed with a front brake. No back brake in sight. I stayed away. Far away.

SingleSpeedMark said...

Any one else notice that the "Funked Up Fixies" have reverse bottom bracket drop? What's up with that?

SingleSpeedMark said...

Ah, it's actually called "negative bottom bracket drop" and it's for fixed gear shredders. I shoulda known, though I've never ridden a fixie. I also have never done a "grind", so to speak...

Anonymous said...

I was hoping for a whole post about the asinininity of the NYT article about French fixiedom. I was sure that this bit about biCyCle Store Paris, "a spare and meticulously curated boutique in the Third Arrondissement" would send you into fits of apoplexy.

Anonymous said...

Was B.U.M Equipment the Fixie of casual clothing?

Anonymous said...

Negative bottom bracket:

http://bmxmuseum.com/image/dcp_1243_lg.jpg

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

@Anon Coward:
Yes and I can see the future in it too...



It stinks.

SingleSpeedMark said...

Anon 1:56- I guess Haro bikes are the wave of the future. I hear they are working on a new bike that places the bottom bracket at the seat collar.

Paul Bowen said...

I'm an arrogant [Germanic monosyllable for the female genitalia]. I know this for a fact because I got it from a Hackney Carriage driver and they, as you may know, have The Knowledge. He'd asked me, impertinently and rather irritably, why I was opting not to use the bicycle lane on Southwark Bridge. Judicious application of polite condescension had him whizzing round the dial from irritable to inchoate fury in about 30 seconds. Sorry London, I do it because I can.

Anonymous said...

sniff behind this is 59

Anonymous said...

That tablet computer holder will be nice for playing videos of fixie- freestyling while fixie-freestyling.

Or maybe Wham! videos for ironic inspiration.

Or scrolling messages...
Or race numbers...

ant1 said...

snobby - "...like durable good and real estate." goods?

An anonymous coward once said...

More people riding bikes, some will get better at it and ride more and eventually replace their bikes.

I think overall it's a positive trend.

bikesgonewild said...

..."Don't Sell the Steak, Sell the Squealing"...

...that should read "don't sell the pork chop, sell the squealing"...

...pigs squeal, cows don't, terrified or not...

...just sayin'...

Anonymous said...

did you notice that almost none of the cyclists in the dutch video were wearing helmets? i wonder why?

CommieCanuck said...

Fake crabon is the new crabon. Few people know that crabon is made by clubbing baby seals, then setting fire to them to extract the crabon polymers. Mavic's fake crabon-like coating looks like real crabon, and cost just as much. Douche-ness is retained, while animal ethics remain intact and Pamela Anderson is not activated.
The same website has a contribution by a pro-cycling "wrench", Nick Legan, who says that Mark Cavendish "pre-won" the 2011 Worlds by the choice of his Zipp 404s.
When you write that out, it sounds stupid.

Anonymous said...

don't believe the hype. I work for one of the largest dutch companies here in NYC. our office building allows bikes but it is up to each tenant to make arrangements (or not) for space for bikes. My company has opted not to provide space for bikes, so I can't bring mine in the building and have to leave it locked outside. I've been htere 4 years and have 3 bikes stolen and numerous parts. After the last theft I've been parking my bike in a garage, yes a fucking garage. my employer still won't relent and allow me to bring my bike into the building. fuck the dutch.

Ned Beatty's buddy said...

"squeal like a Mavic boy..squeeeeaallll!!"

Esteemed Commenter DaddoOne said...

apparently the Samsung Galaxy bike is a tribute to Frank Gorshin:
"The stunning hand built steel frame pedal bike boasts a striking custom paint job exposing sleek black paint on one side and cool white paint on the opposite, reflecting the colours the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is available in."

CommieCanuck said...

I've just send an email to Legan telling him I ordered a custom Meh-vici with Superlights. @$18,000, I will have "pre-won" the 2012 TDF.
Maillot jaune,bitches.

mikeweb said...

@anon 2:33,

NYC passed a law that stipulates that office buildings larger than a certain size are mandated to provide indoor bicycle parking. As far as I know, the physical space isn't the individual tenant's responsibility. However, the individual tenants do need to assume legal responsibility for the parking area so that the building ownership doesn't get sued if/ when something goes missing. At least that's what I understood when it took a full 6 months to allow me full access to the bicycle parking in my building that was already there. I'm sure checking nyc.gov or the DOT page therein explains this a lot better than I just did.

CommieCanuck said...

I'm pretty sure those guys at Engadget wouldn't know what to do with any computer accessory/bike that didn't display porn in HD.

CommieCanuck said...

anaon 2:33, this is America, we don't fuck the dutch, we get a lawyer to do it.

Anonymous said...

thanks Mikeweb, very useful information. I will bring that up with the powers that be here.

mikeweb said...

*sigh* So, it's 'The Netherlands are'? I always thought it was 'The Netherlands is'.

I feel so stupid and un-Dutch right now...

skink said...

Fuck the Dutch?

I'd like to start with the babe in that video.

bikesgonewild said...

...skink...

...if she's got a cute girlfriend, i'd go 'double dutch'...

skink said...

bgw,
Let's go Dutch!

mikeweb said...

I don't think that babe in the video is Dutch anyway.

She isn't tall enough.

George H.W Bush said...

Read my shit:
no new taxes.

imperial gallons said...

"visit canada"?

yeah, right.

urchin said...

Stale!
about as far into the EuroFixieWhatever video as I was able to take (10s?) the tires descending the staircase almost pinch-flat with about 10psi in the tires.

And for the Spinergy pile-on, sighted someone in the bumpy as hell CX4 race yesterday rock/running/PRing a pair. Which really takes a pair.

...and it's a great way to stay in shape.

Nebraska bike commuter (non-DWI edition) said...

I noticed that soft tire too. Sheesh!

I "curated" my fixed gear bike for less than $50, complete with mismatched wheels. I could have mismatched the tires too, but I didn't know at the time that I was supposed to, and I'm too lazy to change one now. I should get a can of Krylon for a mo' better colorway and I still wouldn't break that price point. Think it's funky enough?

Nebraska bike commuter (non-DWI edition) said...

'scuse me


Funked up enough?



Make my funk the P Funk/
I wanna get funked up!

Anonymous said...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Road-Mountain-Bike-Bicycle-Relaxation-Handlebar-Black-/160631024284?_trksid=p4340.m1374&_trkparms=algo%3DPI.WATCH%26its%3DC%252BS%26itu%3DUCC%26otn%3D15%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D3222496612103454743
Just relax on these bars as you spin away your worries of a financial collapse.

leroy said...

My dog advises that if you really want a bill to become a law, you have to go through Parliament.

I told him he couldn't tell the Mothership Connection from the Muppets' Rainbow Connection.

(I'm still mad at him for putting chili oil in my chamois cream.)

screaming skull said...

ahhh, we want the funk!

give up the funk!

ahhh, we need the funk!

gotta have that funk!

Turd Ferguson said...

Leroy, your dog is wrong.

A bill only becomes a law after it is passed by both Parliament and Funkadelic.

Anonymous said...

Those "Hubway" share-bikes are borrowed from Boston. The program went live (in the boroughs with no minorities) a couple months ago. Some people are using them. Soon, it will snow.

JDH said...

89th? Personal best. Moral podium!

JDH said...

Oh, and the cycle chic in the vid has a great bottom bracket.

L and T said...

Did you overlook the boogar that was fixied to the right nare of the bearded guy at 41 seconds in?

Nebraska bike commuter (non-DWI edition) said...

We gonna turn this mutha out!

Anonymous said...

To the idiot hipster on a fixie who yelled at the MTA safety dude at the foot of the williamsburg bridge:

You're a fucking clueless cliche of a delusional cyclist. Maybe you wouldn't be so angry if you knew how to control your "whip" and slow down. The reason that guy is there is b/c morons like you, who fancy themselves COOL, use their commutes as their douchey races, and run into baby strollers and old ladies. Fucking retard. You suck and would actually get killed in a real race (not an alleycat); and barreling through other cyclists and pedestrians and then cursing at city employees only creates an even bigger backlash against cyclists.

You want respect but you exhibit none of those characteristics to anyone that doesn't 'GET OUTTA YER WAY!!!', b/c you're in such a hurry to....oh yeah, go to a faux-dive bar and keep up with the hipster joneses.

I also like the fact how he told you to relax and you continued cursing and yelling at him, while you're "oh-so-tough" badass... RODE AWAY!

You are a yellow-bellied dumbshit. Please, go back to taking the L-train and stop acting like an entitled brat.

Happy Monday!

Anonymous said...

@ mikeweb

Exactly, I have the great fortune of having lived in williamsburg for 15 years. And while the fixie trend was obnoxious enough, I could at least stay away from those with no hand brakes. Not smart in case of chain failure (although funny to watch on the bridges).

What's worse, as you mention, is the massive influx of the "FIXIE LOOK", with singlespeeds and just a front brake...the whole point is that you have a backup in case one fails. But I guess having that "fixie look" is important even if you don't know how to ride one...which I'm sort of thankful for...but just but on a rear brake too, people! Ah, the quest for cool...

Homer (_8(|) said...

Stupid yellow-bellied dumbshits.

Uh, wait...

leroy said...

Spoiler Alert:

At 4:15 of the Dutch Cycling Embassy video, a portaged child has her finger suspiciously close to her nose.

Thank goodness there are no potholes in Dutch bike lanes.

That could have gotten ugly.

(Lead out at 96....)

Anonymous said...

My kids and I came across the Hubway bikes in Boston this summer and cruised around the waterfront on them. They're big bulky things but fun to ride. No helments, though.

Anonymous said...

As for freewheeling singlespeeds without rear brakes -- the late, great Sheldon Brown said:

"You really should have a front brake. A front brake, all by itself, will stop a bicycle as fast as it is possible to stop. This is true because when you are applying the front brake to the maximum, there is no weight on the rear wheel, so it has no traction."

Well, true in principle, but a rear brake gives some redundancy in case of failures, and does nicely if you just need to control your speed a little.

I don't ride a fixie where I live -- too many extended stretches of 19 percent grade.

leroy said...

That lampost in the bike lane on Plaza Street is just NY's bid to get an honorable mention on the Warrington Cycle Campaign's "Cycle Facility of the Month" collection.

http://tinyurl.com/cycling-facility

99...

Anonymous said...

Ahhh, Mi-Ah Rödiger is so beautiful!

Nebraska bike commuter (non-DWI edition) said...

I have a single speed freewheel on the other side of my hub, and I know in principle that front brake only should be enough, but the couple times I rode it that way I really didn't enjoy myself. I'm just waiting to find some cheap brake with quick release for easier wheel flipping, but until I find one, it's fixed gear only for me.

Anonymous said...

Heh,Homer (is that your real name?)

Yeah, I'm tempted to agree about "anonymous" posters, but most people's handles don't really reveal who they are (Uh, wait!), so I don't have an issue with them. I mean, I don't think most commenters really want to meet AT THE HIPSTER HIGH ROAD AT HIGH NOON, so I tend to not care. Does make it difficult to direct a conversation though...

More to the guys' point: Why DO people insist on turning their commute into a race? Who are they trying to impress? Going just slightly slower isn't going to make much difference unless you're going all the way to Inwood... And why are so many cyclists so angry? I generally enjoy my commute (except when I almost get killed).

For The Slow Kids said...

Simpson's the name! Homer Simpson. My belly is as yellow as they come.

wishiwasmerckx said...

Am I missing something?

Conventional wisdom says that the bike is more under control when you brake with the rear, not the front. Certainly, the bike is considerably less stable if you are trying to steer and brake at the same time. Don't believe me? experiment with your two-braked bike and you will see what I mean. In fact, part of the process of showing a noob the tricks of the trade is teaching then to brake with the rear instead of the natural tendency to rely overly on the front.

Therefore, if only one brake, shouldn't it be a back brake, not a front brake?

Mojo Nixon said...

Sheldon is our Moses. There's a lot of smiting and begetting has to go on before our Jesus shows up. Meanwhile, brake with whatever brakes you have, but do use brakes. I mean, Duh!

Nebraska bike commuter (non-DWI edition) said...

WIWM; Yes, if stability is the primary requirement. If fast stopping is paramount, the brake needs to be in front because the total weight of you and your bike tends to transfer to the front wheel. That's why nose wheelies are easier with a little speed, and also why the rear wheel will lock up in panic stops when using both brakes.

Like I implied, handling gets pretty damn sketchy with one brake up front, which is why two are best, even with fixed gears.

RG said...

Too much mesquite and not enough pavement on this spread for a fixee. Reckon I will continue to ride Harley and Davidson, the two appaloosas. And eat steak (and vegetables).

studioe said...

What's up with the seriously high BBs on the Funked Up wheeled things? I know there's more cobblestones in Paris, but is this much ground clearance really necessary?

Marcel Da Chump said...

a fucking clueless cliche of a delusional cyclist

morons who fancy themselves cool
use their commutes as douchey races,
run into baby strollers, old ladies, cyclists
and pedestrians--suck.
cursing at city employees, creating
backlash against cyclists.


thanks, Anon 6:32

Etherhuffer said...

@wiwm

I have a truly sub-genius braking fix now on all my bikes. I got some Velo Orange red pads, only to find that they were poorer than Eagle Claw reds. So I put the Eagles in front and the VO pads in back. I can grab both brakes and pull full on and not lock up the rear and lose control. We do loaded touring with front panniers and rear trunks. This set up is really safe and very stable.

Think cars and front/rear bias on brakes

Etherhuffer said...

Oh, and now the French have fixes? Guess I will have to wipe my butt with my Cycles Laurant jersey.

crosspalms said...

I'd have gotten here sooner, but apparently I took the scenic route. I've been spending a pleasant evening chatting with the podium girls' aunts and grandmothers.

Speaking of squealing, on our recent bike trip, another woman told my wife not to use her rear brake on descents because it squealed. Then: descent, stop sign, wheelstand, multiple bruises, amazed fellow cyclists. She didn't go all the way over the bars, just straight vertical, then fell sideways. 2 brakes are better, no matter how loud they are.

Etherhuffer said...

Red compound my man. Less squealing. Cantilevers are nice for having several adjustable angles to decrease squeal. Every black compound I have used has squealed. But not like a hog.

ken e. said...

this is like a helment, different strokes... 60-65% front, 30-35% back.

some logs i know won't take any braking at all!

leroy said...

A rear brake will help slow you down, but a front brake will help you stop.

Of course, if your dog has been reading old Sheldon Brown posts and forgotten to tell you he switched your brake cables so you stop with your dominant hand, that changes things.

bikesgonewild said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bikesgonewild said...

...would all the heated back n' forth in this discussion be considered "brake dancing" ???...

...hey just askin'...

brake for love said...

I'm in brake heaven,

right now.

Anonymous said...

I hate to call you out on being wrong again, but the US Dollar is currently stronger than the Canadian. I guess that you will have to ask for forgiveness. . . again.

G$ said...

Anon 6:52, Sheldon wrote that in an article specifically about fixed-gear bikes, since a fixed-gear bike with only a front brake does have a secondary braking system. I'm sure he would have insisted that a singlespeed should have front and rear brakes. Since doing otherwise is stupid.

Elberto Quonk said...

Crosspalms, if you suddenly change to using your front brake after using your back brakes, particularly on a downhill stretch, you're unlikely to brace yourself and thus fly forwards. The bike does not throw you, it merely follows your mass.

That aside, I was rather under the impression that 'fixee kulcha' was about building them yourself. A bit of DIY spirit is surely the only excuse for the abominable mixing of colours, parts etc. usually seen? Furthermore, the distinction between fixed and singlespeed has been ignored for years, surely there must be some kind of new convention?

Anonymous said...

@ anon 12:28
not so much copying the good ol' US of A as having stuff rammed down our throats ad nauseam and ad infinitum.
- Aussie recalcitrant

Anonymous said...

Hey these embedded video streams come out badly formatted in Google Chrome browser ... I only get to see the leftmost 85% of the video window, so most of the buttons (including 'maximize') are not available. This is the first post that it's happened on.

JB said...

Took the training wheels off my 4yo daughter's bike (single speed, w/tassles)on Sunday. Her secondary breaking system: dive into the grass.

Will Handsfield said...

Snob, standing offer to host a visit to DC to enjoy an actual, functioning American bikesharing system. Basically, JSK saw how great our system is, and bought the same one, why not take it for a test spin down here. I'll even set you up with a reasonable bike to use when not on bikeshare.

BTW, DC is the #1 biking city on the East Coast with 3% of work commutes taken by bicycle, why not come visit the "Portland of the East"

Anonymous said...

They named that wheel the Exalith?!!! It sounds more than a bit too much like a fecalith ( a little rock like piece of shit that can get lodged in the appendix and cause appendicitis).

roos said...

very nice video man..:Pocket Bikes

Anonymous said...

The girl in the video is indeed not Dutch - she is Mi-Ah Rödiger, a sculptor from Germany.

Very distracting that the narrator kept saying things like 'The Netherlands are' instead of 'is' (yes, countries are singular, despite the appearance of the name) and had the lazy Dutch 'duhh' pronunciation of 'the'.

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Fixie Bikes said...

NYC trolls bikers hard.

Anonymous said...

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